"Well it should be obvious what it means," Elijah said. "I've had children before, but it was years ago. I've missed it. It's nice to have the chance again. And to have the child finally be my own. Well, ours."

"Oh, I know what you mean," Selina said. When Astrid brought the baby in again, Selina took him and said, "this will just be wonderful."

Astrid grinned. "There's one thing you have to remember, though. I know you heal quickly, but just to be on the safe side, I suggest you abstain from any sexual intercourse for the next, say, six weeks."

Selina's eyes widened. "Are you kidding?"

Astrid shook her head. "But trust me, and you know this because you've been through it before: you're gonna be so tired after taking care of the baby, you won't even have the energy for sex. You'll get through it. It won't be hard."

"In spite of that bad news," Selina said, "I'd like to thank you for your help, Astrid."

Astrid nodded. "Of course. I'm honored you asked me. Now will come the interesting part: seeing how everyone else will react."

"You're worried about that?" Selina asked.

Astrid shrugged. "Well, I don't know. Klaus especially might be a worry. There might still be some bitterness there. I'll ask Alistair and report back to you."

Selina cuddled Gregory to her. "Thank you," she said.

Once Astrid was gone, Selina looked at Elijah. "Now I feel weird, you know? Like how a person feels after Christmas ends or something. Things build up to this climatic event, and then the event ends, and it's like 'What am I going to do with myself now'?"

"I think we'll have plenty to do with ourselves," Elijah said.

"Yep," Selina nodded. "Weeks of nights with no sleep. Not that that's Gregory's fault of course, but-"

"Why would you need to go night after night without sleep?" Elijah asked.

"Well, how else is he going to eat?" Selina asked. "I have to feed him."

"I could help," Elijah said.

"That's sweet," Selina told him. "But I don't know."

"Well, there are such things as bottles, aren't there?" Elijah asked. "If you put some milk in the refrigerator, I could put it in a bottle, and say, every other night, you could get a full night's sleep."

"You're serious about this, aren't you?" Selina asked, looking at him in surprise.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Elijah asked. "We're both responsible for him being here so I think it's only fair we both take care of him. Unless of course you have some objection to that."

Selina shook her head. "No, I don't. I'm totally okay with it."

"How's it going?" Lucy asked. She looked at the guy who was sitting next to Damon at the table. "Who is that?"

"This is your Aunt Anna's boyfriend," Damon said. "He used to be a dog or something."

Lucy's eyes widened. "Oh, my god! Rusty!" She ran over and she hugged him. "This is so cool!"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Damon said, pulling her off him. "He's not for you!"

"I think somebody is a little jealous, maybe, huh?" Lucy said.

Damon scoffed. "I am not!"

Lucy began rummaging around in the refrigerator and Damon came to stand directly behind her, watching her bottom for a little while before he was finally able to come back to himself and say "What are you looking for?"

Lucy straightened up. "Oh, I don't know." She turned around and began fiddling with her bra before she finally pulled it off. "Well, that's a relief," she said. "This was so tight, I'm glad I don't have to wear it anymore! We really need to get me some new clothes, because Mom's just aren't gonna cut it."

She headed out of the kitchen and Damon glared at Adam, who was staring in Lucy's direction, his mouth open just a little.

"Hey, eyes on your plate, dog boy!" Damon said. "Or else I will pull them out and put them there!"
Adam quickly returned his gaze back to his cereal and then Damon went upstairs. He heard music coming from Lucy's bedroom, soft rock. He stood by the door and watched her as she pulled off her clothes and stood in her panties and bra (she must have put a new one on) for a moment before she began dancing around to the music. She was really very graceful.

Damon quickly turned away from Lucy's bedroom door. What was he thinking? He shouldn't be looking at this! Then, he knocked into something and the music stopped. "Who's there?" Lucy called. "Damon, is that you?"

"Yes," Damon called. "Sorry for disturbing you."

She came out into the hallway and looked at him. "You didn't disturb me at all. In fact, why don't you come in? I don't mind."

"No, Cookie Monster," Damon managed to get out. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?" Lucy asked and then stood up on her tiptoes, stretching out her arms. "I bet you used to hang around me all the time when I was little and not dressed."

"Exactly," Damon said. "You're not little anymore, which makes some of the things we used to do inappropriate."

"Oh, yeah," Lucy nodded. "Like you bathing me, and dressing me, and...watching me be naked-"

"Stop talking!" Damon growled. He was beginning to feel very lightheaded. "And get dressed," he added. "You told me you wanted to get some new clothes that fit you better. Let's go and do that today."

"And when are we gonna tell Mom about Sam and me being grown up?" Lucy asked. "Because I assume she doesn't know."

"And she's not going to know," Damon said. "Not until we can't avoid the issue anymore. If she asks where you are, I'll just say your Aunt Anna and Uncle Stefan took you out and you won't be back for a very long time. That's a believable excuse."

Lucy was looking at him with amazement. "That's genius!" She said. "It's so brilliant I could kiss you. In fact, I will!"

And before he had time to prepare, she threw her arms around him and kissed him. He tried his best to resist, but her skin was so soft and he actually felt warm inside. Against his better judgment, he kissed her back for a moment before pushing her away. "What was that?" He asked her.

"I was kissing you," she said. "I thought you'd like it."

"Well, I did," he said. "But we can't do it again. Not for a very long time."

Lucy grinned. "We'll just see about that."

Adrian found Lenora sitting in a chair in her bedroom, facing the wall. "What happened?" He asked, getting on his knees beside her.

She turned and sniffled, her eyes big and brown. "Mommy is being mean!" she said. "She put me here for an accident!"

"I'm sure that if your mother felt you needed to be put in time out, she did the right thing," Adrian said.

"It's because she doesn't love me!" Lenora burst out. "You love me, don't you Daddy?"

"Yes," Adrian said. "And that's why you have to stay in punishment so you can learn the difference between what's bad to do and what's good to do. Whatever you did is bad. What did you do?"

"I turned Aunt Lucy into a big girl." Lenora said. "She's very pretty. Are you proud of me?" She stood up, her eyes wide. "Daddy, are you okay?"

Adrian was on the ground now, breathing shallowly, his eyes nearly closed. His face was pale. Lenora tried to pull him up and when she couldn't move him, she ran to her open bedroom door and looked out.

"Mommy!" She called in a panicked voice. "Daddy's sick!"

Helene came running and when she saw Adrian on the floor, she tried not to laugh. "What brought this on?" She asked. "Did Lenora tell you what happened with Lucy?"

"Helene?" Adrian said in a shaky voice, his hand reaching out for hers. "Is that you?"

"Oh, stop!" Helene ordered. "And get up, already. You're fine and you know it."

"In a minute," Adrian said. "This is just a lot to wrap my mind around." He sat up and glared at his wife and daughter. "Do the two of you enjoy giving me heart attacks? Is that it? Is that why you keep casting spells like this?"

"It's what we do," Lenora said. "We're witches."

"I don't mean in general," Adrian said. "I meant spells like the one on Lucy. Your mother did one too."

Lenora turned to Helene. "Really? Why am I in trouble then, if you did it too?"

Helene stumbled over her words for a moment. "Well, it happend with me because my powers were messed up at the time. My actions, unlike yours, were not intentional. It was like when you turned your daddy into a bird. I cast a spell at someone else and Lucy accidently got in the way of it."

"But you still did it," Lenora said. "I'm gonna go to the kitchen and get something to eat. Goodbye, Mommy."

"Now, just a minute," Adrian said. "No, you aren't. We're gonna find Lucy and you're gonna take the spell off her."

"She says she won't," Helene told him. "That's why I put her in time out."

"Why won't you take the spell off of Lucy?" Asked Adrian.

"Because she's happy," Lenora said. "She doesn't want me to take it off!"

Adrian scoffed. "You're making that up."

"No, I'm not!" Lenora said. "It's true!"

"Well, that doesn't matter," Adrian said. "She's young and she has no idea what she's doing, so I have to go and help her see reason."

Helene burst out laughing. "Good luck with that, Sparky."

"Thank you," Adrian said through his teeth. "Lenora, come on!"

"Fine," Lenora said, pouting and following him out the door. "You don't even know where you're going!" Helene called after him.

"Oh, I think I do," he said.

Once they were out of sight, she closed the door, rolled her eyes, and called her father. She let the phone ring for several minutes, but no one was home.

"What was this big surprise you said you had for me?" Alistair asked Klaus when the latter opened the door and found him standing on the other side.

"Well, come in first," Klaus said. "I can't tell you when you're standing out there."

Alistair came inside and sat down. "So what do you have up your sleeve now?"

"What makes you think I'm up to something?" Klaus asked.

"Because you're always up to something," Alistair said. "I've known you for half your existence, remember?"

"Well, this time I'm not," Klaus said. "I just wanted to tell you that I have a new roommate."

"Do you?" Alistair asked. "Who is it?"

"Caroline," Klaus said. "She got tired of living with Selina's mother and so I offered her a place here with me."

"Well, that's awfully lucky for you," Alistair said. "What inspired this sudden generosity? Her hair? Her face? Her legs? Other parts it would be ungentlemanly of me to mention?"

"In the past, I would have said 'yes' to all of the above," Klaus said. "But this experience with Selina has really changed me. You can choose to believe it or not, but it's true."

"Where's Caroline now?" Alistair asked. "Is she here?"

Klaus shook his head. "No, she's out walking around to clear her head. When Roxanne found out about Caroline being here, she didn't take to the idea too kindly and left Caroline a token of her esteem. She said before she left she intended to find Roxie and talk things out. I gave her the address and wished her luck."

"Oh, poor girl," Alistair said. "I hope she'll be all right."

"I have a feeling she's a lot stronger than she looks," Klaus said. "I think she'll be fine. And as for her and me, I'll get us a chaperone, if it'll wipe that smirk off your face. Selina's uncle Jake, maybe. We both know him. He could be a help."

"Well, it would be a start," Alistair said. "A definite way to show progress on your part. I think you should do it."

Caroline found herself standing outside the door of the house Klaus had mentioned. It seemed awfully familiar to her, like she'd seen it somewhere. She looked around, wondering if it was even worth knocking on the door. The place seemed deserted. Finally, she just decided to go for it. What did she have to lose, really?

She rapped hard on the door and finally, someone came and opened it. "Yes?" He said. "May I help you?"

"Oh, my god!" Caroline said, coming inside. "You poor old man! What has she done to you?"

"What has who done to me?" The man asked. "Several women have done things to me. You'll have to be more specific."

"Who are you?" Caroline asked him as she closed the door behind her.

"Alfred McIntyre," the old man said. "It's a pleasure to meet you. What's your name, young lady?"

"Caroline Forbes," Caroline said nervously. This old man was obviously out of his mind. Roxie had probably tortured him.

"Forbes?" Alfred's eyebrow went up. "That was my mother's last name. Her first name was Louisa."

"And your father was a McIntyre?" Caroline finished. "My several greats aunt Louisa was married to a McIntyre. James McIntyre. That's probably why I recognize the house. I've been looking at pictures of it all my life."

"Well, isn't this a charming coincidence?" Alfred said. "Why don't you come in and have a drink?"

"Well, all right," Caroline said. "Thank you."

Eventually, she and Alfred were sitting in chairs in the the living room and talking. "So how did you become a vampire?" Caroline asked him.

"It was because of a girl," Alfred said. "She was a pretty young thing and as old as I was, I was charmed that she paid any attention to me at all, but eventually I learned she was as sneaky as she was pretty. One night, she asked me to come down to a cemetery with her so she could pay hommage to some of her dead family members, but we ended up visiting some of my dead instead."

"Your family?" Caroline asked. "Your wife? Your children?"

"No," Alfred shook his head. "My former girlfriends. The ones who were silly enough to kill themselves after I decided to end things. Don't you think it's silly for a woman to kill herself just because a relationship she's in ends?"

"Well, based on the times you couldn't really blame the women," Caroline said stiffly. "They lived in a world where their whole life, their whole reputation was connected to how men viewed them and to be dumped like trash was probably literally something they would never be able to recover from. Not like women of today. We're lucky. We can do whatever we want. Like me, for instance. My husband died recently and though I grieved, I still feel like it's okay to live my life. I'm not going to throw myself off a bridge because I'm without a man at the moment. I have a life that I'm perfectly capable of living on my own. Granted, it's more interesting to be with someone else, but I could still be alone if I wanted to be." She paused and cleared her throat. "Sorry. What happened while you were looking at the graves? Something must have."

"Well when we were at the grave of the tenth girl, Sera came up behind me and plunged a knife into the cape I was wearing, pinned me to the grave, bit me, forced her blood down my throat and stabbed me, leaving me to bleed to death on the girl's grave."

"This woman sounds crazy!" Caroline said. "What was her name, do you remember?"

"They called her Sera then," he said. "But she goes by something else now, Selina I think."

Caroline shook her head. "That's not true. You have to be lying. I know Selina. She would never do something like that."

"Maybe not now," Alfred said. "But she did back in the twenties and I've got the fangs to prove it. I've never quite figured out why she chose me, though. Maybe to get back at my mother. I've heard that they were never the best of friends."

"You're just a crazy old man!" Caroline said, getting up and moving toward the door. "You're lying and I'm going to prove it!"

"You have to tell me something," Caroline said when she burst through the door, panting and nearly falling down the steps that were just inside the front door of Klaus' house. Klaus and Alistair looked up at her. "What's the matter?" Alistair asked. "What can we do for you? You look distraught." He guided her over to the sofa and helped her sit down.

"I'm going to ask you a question and you have to tell me the truth," Caroline said. "Has Selina ever killed anyone? And not just for the purpose of feeding, either. Has she ever killed purely for the fun of it? Because I just went and saw this guy Alfred and he told me the most incredible story-"

"Whatever Alfred says is true, unfortunately," Alistair said. "It was a dark period in Selina's life. A long line of men had abandoned her, and finally, something in her snapped and she decided to take revenge upon all males in general. Well, not right away. It started with her killing the men she dated when she found out they were being unfaithful, along with the women they were being unfaithful with. And as for Alfred, she had something against Alfred's mother and thought turning him would be a big deadly shock, if I remember correctly. All mankind only became her targets later on. But she's since recovered and is doing quite well for herself."

Just then, the doorbell rang and Alistair went to answer it. "Elijah!" He said. "Congratulations!"

Elijah grinned and stepped in the house. "Thank you," he said. "And would you thank Astrid again for us? We're really grateful for her help."

"Has Selina had the baby?" Caroline asked. "When did it happen?"

"It hasn't even been a day," Elijah said. "Mere hours, as a matter of fact." Elijah looked at Klaus. "So when are you going to come and see your nephew?"

"Oh, it will be soon," Klaus said. "As long as I get to before Mother pulls the dagger out of your father, that is."

"I'm sure that can be arranged," Elijah said. "And I'm sure Selina will be glad when she hears how well you're taking this."

Klaus looked up at him. "Well, this may surprise you, but I've moved on," he said. "Or at least I'm working on it. I have a life. I can have any woman I want. I don't need to spend the rest of my life dwelling on Selina."

"Well, good," Elijah said. "That's good. Especially when you've got someone else just as lovely right here."

"Well, thank you," Caroline said. "That's sweet, considering we've only met once before."

Elijah cleared his throat. "I should go now," he said. "I just came by to share my good news. Nice to see you again, Caroline. See you all later at the house, I hope."

Elijah found Selina in the upstairs library, sitting in an armchair with her bare legs draped over the armrest. She was barefoot and her toes were painted the same dark shade of purple as the dress she was wearing, which would have been more appropriate for spring or summer than the middle of December. She was reading a book and was so absorbed in it that she didn't look up as he came near her. He finally reached out and tickled the bottom of her foot, which made her jump about a mile and throw her book in the air. When it was finally brought down by gravity, it landed on Elijah's head.

"Ow!" He said.

She smirked at him. "That will teach you to sneak up on me. Gregory's asleep now, but I have the monitor down here with me in case he wakes up."

Elijah looked at her with concern. "Aren't you cold?" He reached out and ran a hand over her leg. "You have goosebumps all over your leg. And your feet are freezing! What are you thinking, wearing your summer clothes when it's cold outside?" He began rubbing her legs to warm them up and then began massaging her feet.

"How's this?" He asked her. "Are you feeling warmer?"

Selina closed her eyes and nodded. "Yes, this is helping. Keep going, please. So, did you tell Nicky about Gregory?"

He saw a small smirk curving her lips and realized that this was all a ploy to get him to touch her.

"You know, you could have just asked for me to do this," he said. "I would have done it happily. I am doing it happily. And yes, I did tell him. He said he's going to come and visit soon."

"But if I just asked you to do it, you wouldn't scold me," she said, still on her previous train of thought. "And for some odd reason, I find it a big turn on when you scold me for being irresponsible. I think it's because it means you care."

"Oh, I do," he said, bringing his hand from her foot and up her leg to her thigh. "I care a lot." He leaned forward and kissed her deeply. When he pulled away, she was breathing hard. "Remember, Astrid said no sex."

Elijah grinned. "But she didn't say we weren't allowed to touch each other. Did you hear her say that?"

"Well, no," Selina said. "But it figures you'd keep track of things like that, seeing as how you benefit from them."

"Well so do you," he said, moving his hand over a little on top of her panties and rubbing. "See?"

Selina whimpered again and finally pulled him to her, running her fingers through his hair and kissing his lips, then down his neck.

"I would unzip you," she said at last. "But who knows when Gregory's going to wake up and I wouldn't want to leave you uncomfortable. In fact, I think I'll go check on Gregory now."

"I can wait," Elijah said, giving her a playful swat on the bottom as she made her way to the door. She turned around and said, "Oh, I bet you can't. And since you can't, I won't be long. I promise."

"So where are we?" Roxie asked when she was finally allowed to open her eyes and saw the rundown shack before her. "Why am I here?"

"I thought you could use a change of pace after all that time in the city," Vince said. "Something a little quieter. So Charlie, Tony and I went out and found this little farm. It's going to be home sweet home for a long time."

"Wait," Roxie said, getting out and eyeing the broken trim on the roof and the cracked windows. "We're moving here...deliberately?"

"This is the best place we found, I promise," Vince told her. "The rest of them were real dumps."

"But it's a shack!" Roxie shuddered. "I bet it's full of mice and rats."

"So?" Vince said. "You can kill them, just like you're going to kill the animals for dinner every night. As I recall, you like killing things, don't you? Things and people."